Learning for Life: Bullying in the NHS

Life
Long Learning and Continuing Professional Development (CPD) are the processes
by which professionals, such as nurses, develop and improve their practice.

There
are many ways to address CPD: formally, through attending courses, study days
and workshops; or informally, through private study and reflection. Reading
articles in professional journals is a good way of keeping up-to-date with what
is going on in the field of practice, but reflecting and identifying what you
have learned is not always easy.

These
questions are designed to help you to identify what you have learned from
studying the article. They will also help you to clarify what you can apply to
practice, what you did not understand and what you need to explore further.

1.
What sort of research approach does this study take?

a)
Grounded theory
b) Longitudinal
c) Prevalence
d) Ethnographic

2.
Who does Graydon identify as the principle perpetrators of bullying?

a)
Carers
b) Peers
c) Managers
d) Personnel

3.
Confrontation in the clinical area was seen to be:

a)
Universal
b) Unprofessional
c) Unsafe
d) Undemocratic

4.
Why are bullied nurses reluctant to report incidents?

a)
Fear of censure and isolation
b) Fear of disciplinary action
c) Loss of face
d) Will not be believed

5.
When being bullied, the effect on the nurses professional care of patients is:

a)
Devastating
b) Noticeable
c) Minor
d) Minimal

6.
What are prominent features in managers’ concerns?

a)
A lack of staff
b) A lack of resources
c) A lack of knowledge and skills to do the job
d) A lack of support

1)
d – Revise your knowledge of the different types of research methods. If
you are not aware of any of these different types of study make sure you
explore the terms in a research text book. 2) c – That does not mean to
say that others cannot abuse their position and bully people. 3) b –
Make sure you understand what is meant by the term ‘professional’ in this
context rather than just in the context of being paid – as opposed to amateur.
Carry out a literature research and discuss with your colleagues and decide
what you believe being professional means to you. 4) a 5) d – This shows
how professional nurses are on the whole! 6) c 7) b – This programme is
free to all nurses and can be found at www.nursingleadership.co.uk. Have a look
at the website and consider if it would be worth you taking some of the modules
on this course. 8) a – Compare this definition with others you may have
had or heard of and then write your own definition. 9) c 10) c – The
result of bullying is ‘stress related ill health’ explore the HSE website on
stress at www.hse.gov.uk/stress